F-35 Pilots’ New Helmet

[Don Jaguar]

You’re looking at what may well be the helmet worn by the first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter pilots at the plane’s schoolhouse at Eglin Air Force Base, Fl. It’s the basis for BAE Systems’ alternate JSF helmet that is being developed due to issues with the plane’s futuristic — and kind of crazy – looking helmet made by Vision Systems International.

BAE’s brain bucket is based on the one used by Eurofighter Typhoon pilots. However, for F-35, BAE will remove the Typhoon’s display system — housed in the giant forward part of the helmet — and will replace it with a pair of night vision goggles and a single eyepiece showing Heads-Up Display-style info (shown below).

Now, VSI’s helmet was supposed to project HUD info — and most impressively — infrared imagery from the F-35’s Distributed Aperture System onto the pilots’ visors, giving them an almost bubble-like view around the aircraft in any weather ( the system would literally allow the pilot to look down and see below the aircraft.) However, projecting very high-quality images onto the visor is proving difficult.

So, with the F-35 schoolhouse standing up, F-35-maker Lockheed Martin gave BAE a contract this week to quickly develop an alternate helmet that will provide Heads-Up Display and night vision should VSI’s helmet fail to be ready in the near future.

Pilots “want the good picture that comes with the goggles that they’re used to seeing, that they’re comfortable with, that they’ve been flying with forever,” Paul Cooke, BAE’s director of business development for defense avionics told DT at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference in Washington. “What we did for Joint Strike Fighter was, we took the same two part helmet [as the Typhoon’s], the same optical tracker, we took out all the electronics and the visor projection system — just gutted that out — put a goggle bracket on the front and we take this quantum sight and hang it down in front of the right eye. So, in daytime the goggles are off and you have a HUD and nighttime you put them on the helmet, flip the goggles down and because it sits between the eye and the back of the goggle tube, you get the symbology and you also have” night vision.

“If you want an even bigger field of view you can have one” quantum sight in front of each eye, added Cooke.

“What we need today is the night vision goggles until the digital stuff catches up on the visual acuity side,” said Cooke.

DAS info could be added to the BAE helmet at a later date if it becomes the primary F-35 noggin protector.

Here’s BAE’s press release on the new helmet.





http://defensetech.org/2011/10/13/f-35-pilots-new-helmet/

 

[Jango]

so the HUD will not be on the plane rather on the Helmet?

If so, how will it be connected? A cable will be running through or a wireless system?

 

[silko]

so the HUD will not be on the plane rather on the Helmet?

If so, how will it be connected? A cable will be running through or a wireless system?

maybe it is integrated into the helmet from the start or something.

 

[Quasar]

NO HUD!!! yes thats what they say, HUD info without HUD

 

[OrionHunter]

The F-35 has a helmet-mounted display (HMD) system that will be the primary source of flight information. There is NO HUD on the F-35. The HMD provides a “virtual HUD” capability, presenting flight symbology as well as displaying day and night imagery from the F-35’s 360° distributed-aperture infrared sensor and electro-optical targeting sensor.

The HMD is a joint venture between Elbit Systems’ company EFW and Rockwell Collins that produces the Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System used in current US fighters.

Cheers!

 

[shree835]

Nice Helmet...Please order it along with F-35 for PAF.

 

[Quasar]

.................

 

[Splurgenxs]

The OP posted the wrong Helmet in the last two....it looks more like NV attached tactical helmet

 

[Quasar]

The OP posted the wrong Helmet in the last two....it looks more like NV attached tactical helmet

No just two engines, two helmets US-UK

 

[Tshering22]

The helmet looks really mean eh? They got a name for it too; the "Demon" helmet. It'd be amazing to have the HUD all the time with you rather than just ogle at the front of fighter jet. It would be a big boosters for those guys who want to be fighter pilots but have glasses. No more ogling at long distances and better focus.

Any idea what'd be the cost of this thing? By the looks of it, it'd cost a fortune.

 

[Mosamania]

so they did not go with the Israeli helmet after all. They went with the BAE helmet which will make the Typhoon helmet instead of the Elbiet-Rockwell and Collins helmet.

 

[Major Sam]

that will bring a new change in the future of pilot performance

 

[Quasar]

so the HUD will not be on the plane rather on the Helmet?

If so, how will it be connected? A cable will be running through or a wireless system?

HVI cabling!

 

[SQ8]

The biggest advantage of this helmet over all existing and current planned HMS systems will be the ability to see "through" the cockpit 360 degrees.
The pilot will be able to see targets on his helmet underneath his seat.. will be able to see a SAR image of a bridge underneath his flight path.
and will be able to track multiple bogies even if they show up as underneath his thigh.

 

[Quasar]

yeah even underneath his thigh thanks to EO Distributed Aperture System